Australian Schools Division 1 Championship - Day One
July 09, 2008 - 9:17am
Story by: Other
Match 1 – (Non comp) Australian Capital Territory v Combined States
ACT looked dominant at the beginning of the first half, being awarded a penalty in the first minute of the match, which was kicked successfully by Brendon Taueki, giving the ACT the first points of the match.
A minute later Tyler Stevens broke through several players, but lost the ball before he could do anything with it, and Combined States recovered. At the 7th minute of the half, Combined States had a good lineout on the 10 m line, and used it to give AJ Scheck a chance to run through the ACT defense, which resulted in a 5 metre scrum.
After getting close to the line, ACT won the ball when Combined States threw a forward pass. In the 10th minute strong play by Alex Rowley and a great pass to Atele Apirenu gave the ACT their first try through loose CS defense, Apirenu running straight through to score. Brendon Taueki converted from the corner. In the 14th minute CS were awarded a penalty and chose to kick, which Darryl Mitchell made nicely.
Four minutes later Mitchell kicked his second penalty, putting CS four points behind the ACT. CS scored their first try in the 25th minute, after stealing an ACT line out.
Heremaia Te Aute made a charge through the defence, but the ball was initially held up over the line, resulting in a 5 metre scrum.
ACT were very strong in defense of their line, however the pressure was relentless and Michael D’adamo scored, with Mitchell converting. After the half-time siren combined States were awarded another penalty, however were not accurate.
Half time: ACT 10 – Combined States 13
ACT were close to scoring in the 5th minute of the second half when Brendon Taueki threw a flashy one-handed pass to Tyler Stevens who made a great run, but although they gained ground they fell just short.
In the 10th minute Tasesa Lalotoa gained half the field for Combined States, dodging several players along the touch line and giving CS all the momentum.
This was short lived as a minute later Stevens found a huge gap in the CS defense to run through, and offloaded to Taueki who ran with it and chipped up the line, but could not get to the ball in time to score, and eventually a 5 metre scrum was awarded to the ACT.
Ollie L’Estrange broke through but the try was not awarded as CS still had the advantage.
In the 17th minute Scheck was yellow carded and ACT were given a penalty and chose to kick, however were not successful.
This was not the case for Combined States two minutes later, when Mitchell scored their third penalty.
In the 24th minute ACT had an overlap and Will Naufahu passed to Stevens who scored easily. The conversion was missed, leaving ACT one point behind with just minutes to go.
Stevens, L’Estrange and Tom Gilmore produced some impressive team work, and poor discipline in front of the posts put the ACT in the lead when Anthony Crowe made an easy penalty kick.
With 20 seconds left in the match and finding themselves suddenly behind, Combined States took the restart quickly, however ACT caught the ball and ran down the field before the CS full back had a chance to position himself properly, and Crowe kicked the ball over the try line to score for ACT within seconds of play resuming. Crowe converted his own try after the siren to give ACT the win.
Full time: ACT 25 (A. Apirenu, T. Stevens, A. Crowe tries, B. Taueki, A. Crowe con, B. Taueki, A. Crowe PG) defeated Combined States 16 (M. D’adamo try, D. Mitchell con, D. Mitchell 3 PG)
Match 2 (Pool A) – New South Wales 1 v Queensland 2
New South Wales put the pressure on early and kept it on for the opening 5 minutes, however it was Queensland’s Mitch Wenck who scored the first points when they were awarded a penalty in the 8th minute.
Two minutes later it looked as though NSW were about to score, but the ball was knocked on before the line.
It looked promising again for NSW in the 13th minute when a very quick Cameron Mitchell ran down the touch line, but was pushed out of play.
A minute later NSW evened the scores with a penalty kick taken by Alex Pinson right in front of the goal posts.
In the 16th minute Mitchell and Michael Hooper combined to give Michael McDougall the ball and score the first try for NSW.
Pinson missed the conversion. NSW continued to threaten with aggressive runs in the following minutes, and were seconds away from scoring when they were penalised for diving over the ruck.
The 23rd minute saw NSW drop a high ball, which gave QLD the momentum from the knock on advantage, and Teti Tela was able to break through, with Wenck converting.
In the final minute of the half Hooper made a break and passed off to Pao Pele who scored on half time. The conversion was unsuccessful.
Half Time: NSW (1) 13 – QLD (2) 10
Queensland missed a chance to equalize with a penalty in the 4th minute, but the first try of the half didn’t come until the 12th minute from a very strong NSW rolling maul that the physically smaller QLD side had no hope of stopping. Hooper eventually put the ball down, but the conversion missed, going across the face of the goal.
In the 15th minute QLD missed another chance to score when the ball was held up over the line, and then again in the 19th minute, after being penalised for not releasing the ball.
A penalty kick for NSW in the 21st minute for diving over the ruck was missed, and a minute later Queensland’s Austin Smith made a break for the line but was run out of play.
Finally after sustained QLD pressure, NSW turned the ball over and Hooper scored. Greg Jeloudev converted.
QLD again looked promising in the final seconds of the match, however the game was already out of reach and the match was over.
Final Score: New South Wales (1) 25 (M. Hooper 2, M. McDougall, P.Pele tries, C. Nadalo con, A. Pinson PG) defeated Queensland (2) 10 (T. Tela try, M. Wenck con, M. Wenck PG)
Match 3 (Pool B) – Queensland 1 v New South Wales 2
Queensland were strong early when in the 3rd minute a very fast Nicky Price powered towards the try line and chipped the ball ahead, however he could not keep it in play.
Queensland won their subsequent line out and after threatening, Edward Quirk was eventually able to score. The conversion was missed.
In the 8th minute the clouds darkened and the rain began to fall, causing several players to slip at important times during the match.
New South Wales chose to tap and go when awarded a penalty in the 14th minute which gave them a try by Chris Edwards, converted by Harry Bennett. QLD responded in the 21st minute when Price set up the try, running through the gaps from one side of the field to the other, and passed off to Stefano Hunt who finished off.
In the 27th minute QLD were reduced to 13 players, as David Feao was sin binned for 5 minutes. NSW were given a penalty which Bennett made.
Half Time: Queensland (1) 10 – New South Wales (2) 10
The first try of the second half came in the 5th minute, QLD’s Joel Faulkner broke through the NSW defence to pass to Hunt who put the ball down under the posts, and Eddie Bredenhann converted.
As the cold rain once again started to pour, both teams had their chances with impressive moves, however despite being very close NSW repeatedly knocked on, greatly diminishing their chance to even the scores.
In the 13th minute, following a Queensland lineout 5 metres out, all but two of their players on the field formed an ‘all-in’ rolling maul, and despite NSW having the larger players, they were no match for the strength of QLD’s team play.
David Feao was the eventual try scorer, the conversion was missed.
Another rolling maul, this time for NSW at the other end, was unsuccessful, stopping just inches short of scoring in the 18th minute.
QLD could have increased their lead with a penalty kick by Bredenhann, however it was off target. NSW had their last chance in the 29th minute as they ran the ball very quickly down the touch line, however an ankle tap ended their run and the match.
Full Time: Queensland (1) 22 (E. Quirk, D. Feao, S. Hunt 2 tries, E. Bredenhann con) defeated New South Wales (2) 10 (C. Edwards try, H. Bennett con, H. Bennett PG)
